Quick hitter for the Flames fans today. I’ll have a summer playbook out around Friday. That playbook just hit a snag today with the news that Eric Francis reported today about Eric Nystrom and Ian White.

On Nystrom… First off anyone notice that Eric is wearing the ‘A’ for the USA at the world championships? Pretty high praise for a 4th liner on a non playoff team (at least how the Flames seem to regard him) It looks as though he will be getting about $1.5M through arbitration, assuming that the Islanders don’t sign him to an offer sheet.

On White… Ian who in my opinion should have been on the Team Canada entry into the World Championships, and perhaps the best Flames defenseman this year will be looking at a contract around $3.5M through arbitration and will likely get it.

Why should this concern Flames fans? Well unless some contracts are buried in the minors or traded away for a bag of puck (Staios, Kotalik anyone?) the Flames only has about $4.2M left against the cap and only 8 forwards signed.